10 theses on architecture

The following principles have applied since man began to plan his buildings rationally and aspired to use architecture as an aesthetic product that shaped the building beyond the parameters of mere utility.

I

Function, construction and form are factors of equal footing, which collectively govern the architecture.
None of these factors should take precedence over the others.

II

Function and construction are useful; in construction, they should be fulfilled as a matter of course.
The building only manifests itself as architecture with the aesthetic overmoulding of these elements.

III

The instruments of aesthetic overmoulding are:

Proportioning

Structuring

Material Selection

Colouring, as well as

the artistic interpretation of these devices.

IV

The deeper purpose of beauty in architecture lies in man's need to confer a poetic meaning upon his objects of utility, so that they bear testimony to the spirit of his generations.
("... it is useful because it is beautiful..." Antoine de Saintexupéry)

V

Geometry is the foundation of all architectural articulation.
As a form of organised geometry, architecture draws its power from antinomy to evolved nature, not from formal assimilation with the same.
Architecture is a creation of man.

VI

Scale in architecture should be aligned with the size of the human body, as well as its patterns of behaviour, perception and sentiment and not solely according to considerations of technical, constructional and economic import.

VII

The architecture of the town:
Every urban redesign must bow to the orderliness of the overall structure and, in its form, provide a formal response to spatial defaults.

VIII

The urban space has faded into obscurity in 20th century urban planning.
Our newly-built towns are made up of clusters of freestanding buildings.
Five thousand years of urban development history clearly demonstrate that the complex structures of streets and squares are time-proven communication zones and identity bearers.
The traditional concepts of urban space are also valid in the modern town.

IX

Proper evaluation of our historical legacy filters the experiences of the past to the benefit of the plans for the future.

X

The responsibility of the architect:
He alone is responsible for the product that emerges on his drawing board and bears his signature.
Neither politicians nor financiers will relieve the architect of responsibility for an ill-planned environment.
Our universities have a duty to prepare the coming generations of architects for this overwhelming ethical and moral obligation.